


Burn the Witch!

by Kishi (el_o_l)



Category: Corpse Party (Video Game), Corpse Party: Tortured Souls, Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Harry Potter Setting, Gen, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-21
Updated: 2018-12-21
Packaged: 2019-09-24 05:34:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,399
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17094833
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/el_o_l/pseuds/Kishi
Summary: Ayumi didn't even think she was going to see Tenjin in her lifetime, let alone be a student. Her parents had always been so against magic, despite both of them being wizards themselves. They were far from pleased when Ayumi's older sister received the invitational letter to the School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and chose to enrol there. However, as the new school year approaches for Ayumi, she finds herself with a letter of her own, and Hinoe wholeheartedly agrees to give her the books for the first years (and even pays for her wand and robes!).When she arrives, it's everything more than she could have imagined; it's magical in every way. But of course, studying in the most prestigious Wizarding school in Eastern Asia was never going to be easy. Ayumi struggles to control her wand's abilities more so than her peers and finds that her family are a lot more involved with the wizarding world than she was previously told...





	1. The Tenjin Express

**Author's Note:**

> This is a transfer over from my Wattpad account, El-Oh-El. I plan on finishing this fanfiction and then continuing to post Corpse Party content on this account only in the future. Hope you enjoy this, make sure to leave feedback if you do :)

┍━━━━╝✹╚━━━━┑ 

As soon as Ayumi stepped far enough into the train that she couldn't see her sister when she looked back, she realised she had _no idea where she was going_. For the muggle schools, she and her parents had gone to open days to have a look around - a year early, as magical schools had a different system to regular elementary and junior high schools did - and make an informed decision on whether they wanted Ayumi to go there or not. But Tenjin... was just a spontaneous decision. She didn't know what the school truly looked like, or how big it was, how nice the people there were. She'd gotten all of this information from her older sister, who had patiently answered all of her questions about the school over the years spent enrolled there.

As Ayumi remembered this, she simultaneously recalled every time that her sister had convinced her to do something that she liked doing, and ended up hating it. They may have been siblings strongly linked by blood, but they weren't that similar at all when it came down to interests and social capability. Hinoe had graduated from Tenjin a few years before Ayumi was old enough to enrol, so this time she was all on her own. There was no easy way out from here. She didn't want to be expelled or beg the headmaster of the School of Witchcraft and Wizardry to let her leave. She'd look pathetic, not even lasting a day i-

No. She would have faith in Hinoe, Ayumi thought. Her sister had already gone through so much to help her get into this school; the least Ayumi could do was work her hardest in return. So, without looking back, Ayumi began to walk through the carriages of the Tenjin express, keeping her gaze down both to avoid staring at the older kids and to make sure she didn't trip over her school robes (fixed to accumulate her petite body by the tailoring wizard in the shop). She had already put them on in the toilets of a café in Platform Nine-And-Three-Quarters with Hinoe's aid, and they dragged across the floor as she walked, louder and heavier with each step.

Trailing through the carriages, Ayumi felt a sense of unease grow slowly in her stomach. Every so often, she darted her eyes up to check that she wasn't walking into anything, and sometimes caught the eyes of the children who were soon to be her peers, bright-eyed and looking at her curiously. She hurried on, hoping to find a much quieter compartment to reside in for the journey. Yet... even then - even when she walked into carriages with only two or three booths taken up, the eyes that flickered towards her whenever she opened the door was enough to spur her on into the next carriage. The Tenjin express was a lot bigger than it looked from the outside, Ayumi thought.

Eventually, she opened the doors to a compartment with all-but-one booths completely deserted. Within the entire carriage sat a boy with shaggy black hair obsuring his face, eyes trained on a book and headphones over his ears, already wearing his school robes. He didn't notice Ayumi even when she passed him, and so she found it within her to sit at one of the booths in the corner of the carriage. As she was sitting by herself, she put her duffel bag on the opposite bench of the booth and steadied herself as the train finally took off again.

Ayumi had been on several trains before, but the Tenjin express felt like no other train she'd ever ridden. Adrenaline rushed through her body as it began to pick up pace, and she felt as if it was more of a rollercoaster than a casual method of transport. The trees outside were nothing more than green and pink blurs fashioned in the fresh spring of April, and she found herself mesmerized by the scenery. She'd forgotten to take the PSP she'd brought with her out of her bag before setting it down, but she didn't think she needed it to pass the time anymore. That, and Ayumi didn't think she could stand up again now that the train was moving so fast.

A while later, the doors of the compartment opened suddenly, making Ayumi jump. The lady entering with a large silver trolley seemed to be just as surprised to see her, and her eyes flickered to the boy with his headphones in before she sighed.

"Honestly! I've worked in this here train for fourteen years, and I remember all the way back when the kids used to talk to each other. Nowadays the first years don't even wanna make friends..." she grumbled, closing the compartment behind her. "You." Ayumi blinked. The woman was gesturing to her.

"Y-yes?"

At the same time, she tapped harshly on the boy's book, making him look up and shift his headphones off his ears.

"I won't stand for this," the woman continued. "Go and sit there. And introduce yourselves to each other, for God's sake! You'll only see each other every day for the next seven years!"

With that, Ayumi was ushered over to the other side of the booth the boy was sitting at, and not a moment later the compartment door was shutting and they were alone. She looked at him, speechless, and he made eye contact for a split-second before looking down at his book again. Ayumi's ears burnt with embarrassment, and her face grew hotter as more time went by and she realised that the boy still wasn't going to make any attempt to communicate. She would have to lead this conversation, and that terrified her. _He_ terrified her.

"U-uh..." She caught his attention as she attempted to do what the trolley lady desired. "My name's Shinozaki... Ayumi."

"Kishinuma Yoshiki," he returned, and put his headphones back over his head. End of conversation, if it could even be called that. Ayumi sighed, and resumed to stare of the window again - the other side of the train this time.

She was hoping for the journey to resume quietly, but not even fifteen minutes later the compartment door opened again. Ayumi assumed it was another one of the trolley ladies, but was proven wrong immediately as a squeaky voice spoke up from behind her.

"Lookie, it's literally empty in here! Is this quiet enough for you, Shige-nii?"

•  
━━━━━ • ஜ • ❈ • ஜ • ━━━━━  
•

The girl possessing that squeaky voice, as it turned out, was named Suzumoto Mayu. She was as petite as Ayumi and wore lots of bracelets on her wrists and cutesy accessories in her hair. She introduced herself as soon as Ayumi turned around to look at her, as well as the much taller, feeble-looking boy she was accompanied with (Suzumoto called him 'Shige-nii', which Ayumi thought was sweet), whose actual name was Morishige and went to the same primary school as her and was in her class for four years which meant that they were going to be best friends at Tenjin. Morishige didn't seem as keen, but never opposed her hyper rambling. Ayumi introduced herself politely, and Kishinuma mumbled out his name too.

"Do you mind if we sit with you two?" Suzumoto asked, under the impression that the two were already properly acquainted with each other. Kishinuma sighed and took off his headphones properly. Ayumi took that as acceptance.

"Sure," she replied and shifted further towards the window so Suzumoto could sit down beside her. Kishinuma did the same, and Morishige sat on his side of the booth.

"Shige-nii got annoyed at how noisy the other people were in our cabin, so we went to find a quieter one," Suzumoto explained.

"They were throwing cards at each other and yelling about everything outside the window, Mayu." Morishige spoke quietly, but the tone of his voice was clearly irritated.

"It's not often you get a chance to trade them, and everything outside is so cool when it's blurry!" She reasoned, and Ayumi smiled awkwardly in response. She assumed that they were talking about the Tenjin Trump cards, which had a lot of the important staff from the school as well as former students and other leading figures in magic. Ayumi had brought her own collection with her to the school in the hopes that she could trade some of her duplicates with the other students.

"Anyways, is everyone as excited as I am?" Suzumoto continued. "We got into Tenjin!"

"Yeah," Ayumi replied. "It's gonna be so different from primary school. Especially since we have to stay there..."

The comfort of home was something she relished. Her parents had argued that Ayumi wouldn't be able to see them for months if she left for Tenjin as part of their persuasion to make her reject the place she'd been given. Ayumi was accustomed to Hinoe coming and leaving the house when she was younger as she was only a toddler when Hinoe was enrolled in Tenjin, but in her later years, her older sister was still studying when she got home, and Ayumi began to miss her a little more - even though she was there if needed. It made her wonder if she really could stay so far away from home now - especially since she'd grown used to seeing Hinoe around the house regularly.

"Shinozaki-san?"

"Y-Yes?" Ayumi responded hurriedly to Suzumoto, who giggled in response.

"You were in your own world, weren't you? I asked you if you knew anything about the sorting houses."

"Oh, right. Well, my sister was in Hufflepuff, so-"

"Wait, wait!" Suzumoto cut in excitedly. "You have a sister who goes here?"

"Well, not anymore," Ayumi corrected. "She graduated three years ago."

"So you know, like... EVERYTHING about Tenjin already?" Suzumoto was practically vibrating, and even Morishige seemed to sit up straighter upon hearing this.

"N-no, not really. I have asked Onee-san a lot of questions about the normal stuff, though."

"So you know each of the houses?" Morishige asked.

"Yeah, there's Hufflepuff, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and... Slytherin." She hesitated on the last of the four. "I don't know much about all of them, but Onee-san said that they're based on personalities. Hufflepuff must be for really kind and helpful people like her..."

"Ooh, I wanna be in Hufflepuff!" Suzumoto exclaimed.

"Suzumoto-san... I think... you're perfectly suited for that house, to be honest." Ayumi didn't even need to think about that for a second. The perky girl reminded her so much of a young Hinoe that she couldn't see her as anything but the same house as her sister.

"You think so?"

"Mayu, please lower your voice a little. We came in here for the quiet."

"Sorry, Shige-nii!" Suzumoto turned her attention back towards Ayumi. "What about the other houses?"

"I don't really know anything else. Apart from that Slytherin is the opposite of Hufflepuff." Ayumi shivered. "I guess that means it's the bad house."

"Ooh, yeah, I heard that all the rotten eggs were rounded up into one house. I wonder how they know from the start?"

"The headmaster is a powerful wizard," Morishige explained. "A lot of people say they're even telepathic. It probably wouldn't be difficult for them to look at each student and see what house they're best fit for."

"But then why do they take on the bad students?"

"I don't know, Mayu! I haven't been to Tenjin yet."

"Hmm, that's true. I'll ask the headmaster when we get there, then," Suzumoto replied thoughtfully. "Do you think you'll be in Hufflepuff too, Shinozaki-san?"

"I'm not sure... my sister said it's likely. A lot of families with several relatives in the school end up in the same house, so... probably."

"Nice! We can be roommates." She turned towards Morishige. "What house do you think you'll be in, then?"

"Not sure," Morishige replied. "Probably not the same as you, unfortunately. We're not particularly similar."

"Awh!" Suzumoto looked upset, but not surprised. "Maybe the other two nice houses then. Raven..."

"Ravenclaw and Gryffindor," Ayumi repeated.

"Most likely."

After a few seconds of silence, the three of them turned towards Kishinuma, who had at some point put his headphones back on and was glaring down at his book, an intimidating aura around him. Ayumi glanced back up and the other two, and the look on their faces told her that they were all thinking the same thing.

"They can't all be that bad, can they?" Suzumoto said slowly.

"I don't know, bu-"

The train suddenly lurched the children forward as it began to slow down. Ayumi looked out of the window and realised that the familiar fields of Japan were no longer present. It was much darker outside, and though there were still trees by the tracks and clouds in the sky, everything seemed a little less familiar to her. They were here.

┕━━━━╗✹╔━━━━┙

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a transfer over from my Wattpad account, El-Oh-El. I plan on finishing this fanfiction and then continuing to post Corpse Party content on this account only in the future. Hope you enjoy this, make sure to leave feedback if you do :)


	2. Heavenly Grounds

┍━━━━╝✹╚━━━━┑

Promptly after the train ceased, the doors of each compartment slid open in an assortment of heavy clunks, and the sound of footsteps grew increasingly louder. Ayumi grabbed her duffel bag along with the others and walked into a compartment a few carriages down in order to exit the train. It was too crowded to see anything through the streams of people flooding from the exits, and she had no hope of looking over anybody's heads.

In the distance, Ayumi thought she heard moaning at the front of the crowd. As she moved forward, the moaning got louder and more repetitive, and when she eventually reached the source of the sound she nearly fell back in fright.

Standing before her was what appeared to be a deformed-looking man with black - no, red - red with black liquid dripping from them - eyes, sickly phantomic skin and a disturbingly heavy-looking staff in his ape-like fist. In an initial blight of irrational thinking she thought it was a zombie, but then remembered where she was. The man - if she could even call it that - waited until most of the older students had left on a path to the right before groaning loudly and walking in an opposite direction. He turned around and swayed his arm towards him, and Ayumi, along with the others, worked out that he was motioning for them to come with him. None of the older students had intervened with his presence, so they assumed this was a traditional process for the first years and followed his lead tentatively.

They walked for a good while before reaching a clearing by a vast lake, and their leader pointed towards the boats holding up a sign Ayumi didn't even realise he was carrying previously, which stated 'Four to a boat'. She waited in the queue by the dock with the children she had met on the train, and curiously peered over the edge. It was a large stretch of black that looked thick as ink and made her a little uneasy. Nonetheless, the few groups of students in front of her boarded their boats happily and safely, and so when it came to Ayumi's turn, she did the same (albeit cautiously).

When all of the first years were sat in their boats, the zombie-like man got in one himself. He then unhooked it from the docks and dragged the chain along with him. Ayumi realised that all the boats were interconnected with each other via the chain, and, slowly but surely, they began bobbing along down the lake.

"I'm really confused," Suzumoto mumbled under her breath, glancing in the direction of the person - or whatever being it was - taking them across the lake. Morishige hummed in agreement.

"I wonder what makes the water black," Ayumi said, peering over the edge again. This time she swiped her finger through the water, and it came back with thick dribbles of deep-blue liquid dripping off.

"Woah, it changed colours on Shinozaki-san's finger!" Suzumoto exclaimed a little too loudly. The children in the surrounding boats looked over at them in curiosity, and Ayumi felt herself closing in a little. Still, Suzumoto leaned across from where she was sitting and grabbed Ayumi's hand, inspecting the liquid. "You must already be pretty powerful to be able to do that! Do you come from a really prestigious family or something?"

"I..."

"Mayu, she didn't do anything. Look." Morishige swiped the water himself and produced the same liquid and texture as Ayumi did. "It's probably got some sort of ink-like solution in it."

Eyes gleaming at this new suggestion, Suzumoto thrust one of her hands into the water and swished it around before pulling it out, watching the dark droplets detatch from her fingers and seep into the lake once more. Ayumi couldn't help but giggle a little. She seemed like a lively and excitable girl - not quite like Ayumi, but she felt as if they could get along well regardless.

The boat was suddenly rocked with a harsh jolt. A loud groan resounded across the lake accompanied with the harsh clinking of chain links smashing together, making everybody jump in their seats. Ayumi looked towards the source and found the beast that was supposed to be guiding them staring directly at their group menacingly.

"W-What?" Suzumoto whispered, though he clearly couldn't hear her. Instead, he looked pointedly towards her and back again at the water, pointing at it and gesturing towards her again whilst shaking his head.

"I-I don't think he wants you to touch it," Ayumi trembled, feeling threatened by the emptiness the creature's eyes held.

"Oh..." Suzumoto put her hands in her lap and bowed her head. "S-sorry!"

In response, the monster gave a loud grunt and began tugging along the chain slowly, moving everybody across the lake once more.

"He's really scary..." Suzumoto whispered, her head still down and shoulders shaking a little.

"Mhm." Ayumi was still too intimidated to respond properly.

After some time of drifting later, they finally reached the other side of the lake, and the man began directing them in single file to a vastly-decorated double wooden door.

Looking up at the castle, Ayumi found herself struck with awe. It was made of large stone bricks dusted with age, yet they appeared to gleam to her. Ivory vines were scattered about the outer walls like something out of a fairy tale. The turrets were taller than she could even see without craning her head back far enough for it to look strange to those around her, and even the huge traditional windows seemed so picturesque that Ayumi wondered how she even gotten there in the first place. Hinoe had tried to describe the castle to her on her first Christmas home many years ago - and even times after that when Ayumi had forgotten what her answer was - but she always ended up saying that Ayumi had to see it for herself to understand. Now, she knew exactly where her sister was coming from. The atmosphere and design of the castle gave off an aura she couldn't put properly into words.

Without warning, Morishige tapped her on the shoulder, and she realised she was lingering at the front of the line by the entrance. She hurriedly stepped inside to catch up with those who were in front of her.

Slowly but surely, the first years were taken through the school via winding staircases, hallways clustered in paintings - _live moving paintings_ \- and rotting enchanted doorways until they reached a landing with a large double door at the end. Above the door was a silver platter marked 'Auditorium'. The zombie man paused once he reached these doors and raised his hand as if to signal for the students to wait to enter. They complied, still uncertain of the motives of the creature. However, once he was sure his instruction had been communicated effectively to everyone, he took off in the direction they had came from, leaving them alone. Immediately the newly-appointed students began murmuring amongst themselves, a few wandering around the hallway they had been stranded in.

After a short wait, Ayumi heard the rattle of a lock on the other end of the large door being tampered with, and moments later someone from inside the auditorium grasped the handle and pulled the doors inwards. In doing so, it revealed a man of rather tall stature, wearing a brown blazer with no fold or thread out of place. He wore a neutral expression on his face as he rapped his knuckle loudly three times on one of the doors, immediately silencing the murmurs of everyone present.

"Assistant headteacher, Shimizu Takuma. You may enter."

•  
━━━━━ • ஜ • ❈ • ஜ • ━━━━━  
•

Shimizu-sensei led the students in single file towards the stage at the front of the auditorium. Ayumi, along with everyone else, was motioned past the dozens of tables rammed with many other students, and, as they had multiple times since she had left the house that day, her knees began to weaken and shudder.

"The names will be called out in order of last name, alphabetically," Shimizu-sensei announced. The hall had undergone a sweeping motion of hushed whispers since the first years were permitted entry. Even so, Ayumi struggled to hear the teacher amongst all the shuffling. "The Sorting will start in mere minutes, so please line yourselves up roughly where you will be called out. We've no time to work out exactly where everyone is with how many of you there are."

Ayumi knew she would be one of the latter students. She was grateful it wasn't in order of first name; she wouldn't have been first - which was a nightmare situation - but too close to being the first student to get sorted. Not with so many people paying attention at the beginning. All the same, it wasn't a much better scenario as it was, what with the suspense building up as several hundred students churned through the queue. She kept her eyes trained firmly on the ground, not even bothering to look properly around the hall after seeing so many people when she first walked in.

"This... is kinda terrifying," Suzumoto giggled nervously in Ayumi's ear as they stood in the back half of the poorly-arranged queue. She nodded in response, focused on doing anything but collapsing right now. _What was she so scared of?_ She didn't know, but it was at least reassuring to see a positive girl like Suzumoto feeling the same as her.

The hall was silent now, and Ayumi didn't know why until she heard more movement on the stage of the auditorium. Dead in the centre was a large throne-like chair decorated with various jewels and markings Ayumi wasn't familiar with. There on it sat an older man that she could only assume to be the headmaster, what with his expensive-looking robe, wispy hair, wizard hat and the way his eyes seemed to scan each individual student - both sitting at the tables and queuing up - with intensive thought, half-moon glasses gleaming in the light.

Just aside to the left of him was a podium, and on top of it sat a somewhat-tattered wizard hat. Shimizu-sensei gestured to the magical item as he lay down a stool beside it.

"This is the Sorting Hat. It has, for the many years this school has been standing for, individually chosen the very houses you will reside in for the next seven academic terms. When your name is called, please sit on this stool and allow myself to place the hat upon your head. From there, you shall wait until the hat has made its decision and then join your housemates at the corresponding tables."

The assistant headteacher then nodded, and to Ayumi's utter disbelief, the Sorting Hat began to move on it's own. She blinked several times before confirming that some part of the fabric had separated, forming a gap that represented what she could only explain - childish imagination aside - as a mouth. She hadn't enough time to process such a phenomenon when the hat began to sing:

"Oh you may not think I'm pretty,  
But don't judge on what you see,  
I'll eat myself if you can find  
A smarter hat than me.

You can keep your bowlers black,  
Your top hats sleek and tall,  
For I'm the Tenjin Sorting Hat  
And I can cap them all.

There's nothing hidden in your head  
The Sorting Hat can't see,  
So try me on and I will tell you  
Where you ought to be.

You might belong in Gryffindor,  
Where dwell the brave at heart,  
Their daring, nerve, and chivalry  
Set Gryffindors apart;

You might belong in Hufflepuff,  
Where they are just and loyal,  
Those patient Hufflepuffs are true  
And unafraid of toil;

Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,  
if you've a ready mind,  
Where those of wit and learning,  
Will always find their kind;

Or perhaps in Slytherin  
You'll make your real friends,  
Those cunning folks use any means  
To achieve their ends.

So put me on! Don't be afraid!  
And don't get in a flap!  
You're in safe hands (though I have none)  
For I'm a Thinking Cap!"

A moderate applause resounded from the house tables, and the first years followed suit in both bewilderment and astonishment. Ayumi exchanged her surprise through a shared look with Suzumoto, who seemed elated at what they'd just witnessed.

"Abe Temiru!" Shimizu-sensei proclaimed, squinting through his thin-framed spectacles at a rather large scroll of parchment. An awkward-looking girl near the front of the stage scrambled up and sat down on the rickety three-legged stool that had been provided. Shimizu-sensei placed the Sorting Hat on her head, which seemed to mutter to itself as soon as it had come into contact with her, debating on how to sort the first year.

"Our first enrolment of the year... a Ravenclaw!" In response, the blue tables cheered at the fact that a newcomer had started off the Sorting with none other than their own house.

"Adabashi Hirumi!"

As the Sorting Hat churned through each student, Ayumi's nerves slowly began to rattle harder and harder against her chest. She didn't want to be in a bad house. She wanted to be in Hufflepuff. She knew what Hufflepuff was like, because Hinoe had told her so. She had no knowledge whatsoever of any other house (other than the few things the hat had mentioned and the poor reputation of Slytherin), where it was and how it worked and how well they did in the Quidditch cups - nothing. There were a couple hundred first years here; there would be even more older students that were watching, judging. They didn't bore of the rolecall like she had expected them to. They were intent on knowing who would be recruited to their second homes. And if they didn't like her-

"Shinozaki Ayumi!"

 _Already?_ She'd zoned out so much she didn't realise that she'd shuffled along with the rest of the line straight up to the front. It took her a second to process before she somehow managed to move herself up the stairs without tripping, walk across the landing of the stage in as straight a line as possible, collapse hard onto the stool (thankfully not enough to break the fragile-seeming thing) and - finally - catch her breath, which she had been unconsciously holding.

"My my, aren't you a regal head for something like myself?" Ayumi jumped, unaware that the Sorting Hat had already been placed upon her. She was thankful that its rim blocked her view of all the expectant faces in front of her. "Skittish too."

"Um-" What would she even say to a talking hat?

"A mix of all, really. There's two of 'em that really stick out, though. Most of all..." The hat appeared to clear its throat, and Ayumi gasped in response to the pressure and tension she was feeling.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

┕━━━━╗✹╔━━━━┙

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a transfer over from my Wattpad account, El-Oh-El. I plan on finishing this fanfiction and then continuing to post Corpse Party content on this account only in the future. Hope you enjoy this, make sure to leave feedback if you do :) 
> 
> Also fun fact, Shimizu is a canon cp character - he's a science teacher from Paulownia. I'm so stuck on adhering to the canon universe even when the entire plot has gone out the window in an AU lmao


	3. A New Home

┍━━━━╝✹╚━━━━┑

Ayumi sat in a vacant seat at the end of the table, still stunned by her sorting result as she looked around at her new housemates. The hat had said this was for _brave_ people. She wasn't brave at all. Whereas she knew she wasn't smart enough to be considered a Ravenclaw - which looked full of very studious people just judging by their appearance and demeanour, and probably not horrible enough to be a Slytherin - she wasn't, was she? - it just seemed... more outlandish to her. Hufflepuff was for the good. For her older sister's type of people. Was she not that type of person? She sank further into her seat, mortified that she had failed to follow in Hinoe's footsteps.

"Family members are supposed to be in the same house," she muttered sulkily. "That hat's made a mistake."

"It has, hasn't it?"

Ayumi lifted her gaze from her lap to the person sitting opposite her and found none other than Kishinuma staring back at her with a blank expression. _He was a Gryffindor?_

"They probably put it under the wrong spell or something," he continued, turning around to look at the Sorting Hat, which continued to proudly proclaim the corresponding house to each nervous first year sitting beneath it. "Trust that thing to make such a decision... Why not the headmaster?"

Ayumi wasn't even sure if he was talking to her or himself anymore, but managed to blurt out the question that had been lingering in her mind anyway.

"What house did you want to be in?" She asked. Kishinuma swiveled back towards her and said nothing at all a few seconds before giving his answer.

"I don't know. I didn't really guess what house I'd be put in anyways. Maybe Ravenclaw, more likely Slytherin, but..." he scrunched his face.

"You thought you were gonna be put in _Slytherin_? Isn't that kind of worrying?" Kishinuma eyed Ayumi skepticly after her follow-up, with an almost patronizing expression.

"You don't seriously think they sort kids into good and bad houses, do you?" Ayumi didn't reply, and got a scoff in return for her silence. "It'd be setting the school up for trouble if that was the case. It's just 'cause of history that Slytherin's considered a 'bad' house. It's got as many good traits as the rest of them, technically. "

"Technically?"

"Depends on what you think good traits are. All houses are the same, really. Who cares, anyways?" He exhaled sharply out of his nose and turned his back on Ayumi to watch the Sorting. She rolled her eyes in return. The nerves settled in again as she realised that her assumed friends would not be in the same house as her, given that she was the last in alphabetical order to them and hasn't been tapped on the shoulder yet by anyone. She hoped they liked her enough to come and find her later on.

On the stage, a throat was cleared gruffly, diverting Ayumi's attention to the man sitting on the throne previously, of whom she had assumed was the headmaster. By instinct, she straightened up and tried to look as attentive as she could, despite internally debating how on earth she was going to tell her family she ended up in a different house to Hinoe.

"First years, welcome to Tenjin Academy, school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Second through seventh years, welcome back." He spoke with ease, a calm expression resting on his worn face, and Ayumi settled a little more comfortably into her chair. "May I start by once more congratulating Slytherin on their victory of the House Championships last year."

Ayumi watched as those at the green tables smiled to themselves, clearly still proud of their achievement after its significance had died down over the summer.

"House points are earned throughout the year in your classes, sports competitions and similar events and tournaments," he continued. "They can be taken away for poor behaviour just as easily, so I advise that for the sake of your house, you perform your best at all times."

Simple enough. Ayumi wasn't a sporty person, nimble as she was, but she could do her part through keeping out of trouble. The mood of the room told her that students took their House points very seriously. She wouldn't want to upset anyone by messing up and getting caught for it.

"First years, you travelled from the train's departure today via the Black Lake, courtesy of our gamekeeper, Yanagahori-sensei. May I stress that this is the only time you should be in its wake, as exploration of this body of water is prohibited. The same rules go for the Forbidden Forest on the other side of the school, and the Whomping Willow within the front grounds. Were it not for the additional creatures inhabiting these areas, we would be taking more extreme measures to physically barricade them for health and safety reasons. Please do not break this trust, or you are liable to permanent expulsion, in concordance with severe danger both to yourselves and your peers."

Perhaps Ayumi would just stay inside. It seemed much safer that way. She remembered how violently their tour guide had reacted when her group had touched the water of the lake, and felt sick in her stomach now knowing that it was much more dangerous than she had anticipated. Shouldn't they have given a warning about that before?

"There are also restricted areas of the library, and you are not to enter potions classrooms or areas containing other living creatures or plants without supervision from a member of staff. More guidance on this will be given to you by your head of house later today." He clapped his hands. "And, with that..."

Ayumi jumped as the surface of her table began to glimmer and smoke, and she shifted her chair back as she watched all kinds of foods appear before her. She looked around, noticing that all tables in the hall were alike to her own.

"Forty-five minutes shall be allocated to the welcome feast. When the bell rings, would the first-years please follow Shimizu-sensei out of the hall, and locate the prefects of your house to complete a tour of the school. Other years will be asked to leave the hall in ascending order to collect their timetables and sign up for extra-curricular activities half an hour later back in here. For now, however, please enjoy your meal."

Soon enough, the noise picked up, and hands collectively drew towards every plate within Ayumi's range of sight. She decided to wait until they were finished, and was disappointed at the idea that there would be little left by that time - there were some things here she'd never even seen before, let alone tried. However, for about the dozenth time that day, she found herself in awe as the slowly emptying plates were automatically refilled once they'd reached a certain level of nothing. She smiled, and dug in.

•  
━━━━━ • ஜ • ❈ • ஜ • ━━━━━  
•

Having dawdled at the back of the first years' tour, Ayumi realised as they entered Gryffindor tower and headed towards the dormitories that she would likely be stuck with a poor bed in the middle of everyone else's. She sighed and trudged up the stairs begrudgingly, unused to sharing a room with anyone and already imagining the chaos of having many eleven-year-olds sleeping on every side.

Instead, she found her bag neatly placed on a bed by the window, seemingly enchanted to prevent anybody else but her from removing it and claiming the bed as their own. Either she got incredibly lucky with the seemingly random assortment to each bunk bed, or somehow someone knew her preferences, and was on her side for once. It was a good feeling.

As Ayumi opened up her duffel bag, she noticed somebody shuffling around on the top bunk, and realised she'd likely have to deal with various annoying creaks and wobbles every night. Especially if it was a skittish child, like Suzumoto seemed to be.

The creaking continued until it kept to one side and said person appeared to be descending the steps of the bed's ladder. Ayumi waited until a face came into view, revealing a short girl with cropped brown hair and brown eyes.

"Hey there," The girl greeted her with an uneasy smile.

"Hi," Ayumi replied, continuing to unpack her bag for the sake of distraction. The girl landed with a thump on the floor as she got off the last step of the ladder.

"I guess you're my bunk mate. I'm Nakashima."

"Hi, Nakashima-san." She'd already said hi. That was dumb. She felt red flood into her cheeks and attempted to fight it back down. "I'm Shinozaki."

"We got lucky, huh? Right by the window. I much prefer being in the corner," Nakashima said, gesturing behind Ayumi.

"Yeah," she smiled, relieved. "An extra shelf, too. Because of the ledge."

Nakashima looked as if she were about to say something else, but an older student began yelling from the door that first years should come down to the common room after packing for icebreakers and games. Many girls began leaving the dorm room, and Nakashima adjusted her clothes as if ready to head off.

"I'll see you later, yeah? And we can get to know each other then. We'll be sharing for seven years, so..." she trailed off.

"Yeah," Ayumi replied stiffly, still a little intimidated by the presence her bunk mate. She shoved her hands back into her duffel bag and began pulling various books and keepsakes out. When she looked back up, Nakashima and everyone else previously in the room were gone.

Ayumi had been overwhelmed by the amount of hallways and rooms pointed out earlier on the tour that she'd have to remember to take a shortcut through, use for fire exits or not go through whatsoever. Therefore, when she finished packing she made the decision not to join the other first years in the common room, and instead shut the curtains of her bed and began writing down what she could remember about the school navigation-wise.

Luckily, she'd taken initiative and brought along a book on Tenjin Academy that she used to pour over obsessively after her sister's trips home, hearing amazing things about the school and hyping herself up for the day that she would be able to experience the same things. Ayumi wasn't having all that much fun yet, but she couldn't deny that what she'd seen so far had far exceeded her expectations. The book came along with a basic map of Tenjin, and so she began labelling it in pencil with what she'd learnt so far. When lessons began, she could just follow her fellow housemates to each classroom until she could navigate her way around alone.

"Shinozaki-san?"

"Ah!" Ayumi jumped a little at the sound of Nakashima's voice outside from the curtains of the bed. She pulled them back and was met with a look of curiosity.

"What are you doing all the way up here? No wonder the prefects thought there were too few people."

"I..." _'I didn't feel good enough to come down'_ suddenly seemed like a ridiculous excuse. Ayumi instead turned the book with the map of Tenjin towards Nakashima as a way of explanation, feeling childish right after she had done so.

"Oh, wow. You're pretty prepared for school here, aren't you? I wish I was too. I didn't realise we should have to do work before we even got here to make it easier for ourselves. I just got the idea of having homework to do more often," she joked.

"Yeah. I just... there were a lot of things on the tour."

"Right. You'd think they'd give us a better map than the one in the common room. It's only got-"

"There's one in the common room?" Ayumi blurted out. All this work, for nothing.

"Uh-huh. Hey, why don't you come down and look at it? The prefects wanted us to get the _stragglers_  down to play a card game." She giggled, her face turning red. "I was dumb and I asked what kind of magical term that was. But its just a normal word, and I haven't heard it before, ever."

Ayumi looked at Nakashima. She seemed much nicer and less scary than she had taken her to be earlier, and her eyes held an earnest warmth that Hinoe sometimes looked at her with. She considered the offer.

'Ye- ok. Yes, I'll come down." Hastily, she closed the book and got out of the bunk bed. Nakashima grinned at her and led the way down the stairs.

"I was kinda nervous about coming here at first, since I've never stayed away from my mum for such a long time. But a lot of people are the same, so no one's really that scary just yet. Out of the first years, anyway."

"That's good."

"It really is a nice house. I knew it would be," Nakashima continued as she opened the door to Gryffindor's main common room. Before Ayumi had even gotten a good look at her surroundings, her hand was grabbed by the girl in front and she was taken over to the other side of the room.

"Satoshi, this is Shinozaki-san, my bunk mate. Shinozaki-san, this is Mochida Satoshi, my friend from primary school." Ayumi looked up and found herself face-to-face with a boy with cropped brown hair and mocha eyes - come to think of it, he looked very similar to Nakashima, save for the yellow baseball cap he wore. He would have been told to take it off in assembly, Ayumi thought to herself.

"Hello, Shinozaki. I see Naomi was successful with her job to bring the girls down," he said wryly.

"Why, did you fail to even give instructions to someone our own age?"

"It's not my fault! He refused to come down even when I tried to say it wasn't a choice!" He argued back. Ayumi surveyed the room. There weren't as many students as she thought there were to begin with: perhaps around twenty-five in the room, including the prefects. She scanned the faces of the first years and confirmed that it was Kishinuma who Mochida hadn't been able to convince to join everyone. She exhaled through her nose, and felt bad that she'd almost presented herself to be as standoffish as him by not coming down to begin with.

"He's been like that since we got on the train," she decided to chip in. "I wouldn't waste your time."

"You know him?" Mochida asked loudly, clearly surprised. Ayumi flushed at his intense gaze directly into her eyes.

"Not really. I got forced to sit by him on the train by an old woman serving everyone."

"Well, you tried, Satoshi," Nakashima sighed. "Anyways, Shinozaki-san, did you want to look at the map?" She gestured to a pinboard beside them that, sure enough, had a simple map of the school attached. "Or I think that group over there have just finished doing a question game. We could join in on the next one."

"Yeah, I hardly know anyone else in this house yet. My only other interaction with a Gryffindor first year just before now didn't go too well," Mochida agreed. Ayumi felt the strong need to do what he wanted them to, and cursed herself internally for so blatantly wanting to please anyone who talked to her now.

"A game sounds good right now."

"Cool!" Nakashima said, and they made their way over to a group of five people with a pack of cards that seemed to write their own questions on command.

Soon enough, Ayumi found that she was enjoying herself despite unfamililar company. She knew that it would be difficult to leave behind everything she'd ever known for a few months, and though it had been difficult up until now, she almost felt comfortable in this new beginning. Nakashima had offered that they sit together at meal times and as near as possible in classes (the desks only held two people and she wanted to sit with Mochida - though this made sense it still made Ayumi a tad jealous, and she wasn't entirely sure who of in that moment), so she took that as the official moment she made her first friend in her house. She wouldn't be alone walking to classes or outside of them, and would still struggle when teachers decided on pair work, but the most important things were now sorted. She finally felt a true sense of relief for the first time since leaving home this morning, and was excited for all the adventures to come in her seven years at Tenjin Academy.

┕━━━━╗✹╔━━━━┙

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the cringy chapter title, I've been trying to think of something for hours and I cannot do it for the life of me. Anyways, make sure to leave kudos and feedback if you enjoyed this chapter (slow updates bc I'm trying to focus on getting into uni atm) :)


End file.
